in clarity of purpose. Emerson said that "America is another word for Opportunity," and the phrase has often been repeated - but who inquires, "Opportunity for what?" There is another sentence of Emerson's that is even more deserving of repetition: "It is not free institutions, it is not a republic, it is not a democracy, that is the end, — no, but only the means." If Emerson is right, what is the endwhat, at bottom, has the American tradition as its goal? This question cannot be answered now; but a more intimate knowledge of our professed ideals and policies, our spiritual and political tendencies, will perhaps bring us to an earlier answer than we should otherwise attain. It need scarcely be said that, in collecting these expressions of our national and international consciousness, the editors have been obliged to omit, from so small a book, many significant utterances. Perhaps it likewise goes without saying that in arranging the selections under certain topics, the editors have sometimes assigned positions arbitrarily. These defects will not be serious so long as the total impression is reasonably near the truth. In the choice of matter to be included, a number of friends have generously assisted, particularly J. G. de Roulhac Hamilton, Professor of History, and James H. Hanford, Associate Professor of English, both of the University of North Carolina. Professor Hanford not only coöperated with the editors in drawing up the plan of the book, but also read the whole corpus of proof-sheets. N. F. August, 1917. OUR FIRST CENTURY 1 GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY It cannot be that men who are the seed Of Washington should miss fame's true applause; And dying left them whole our crowning deed. Unkinged, unchurched, unsoldiered; shamed were we, From Poems, 1903. Reprinted through the generous permission of The Macmillan Company. |